UN Meeting

This week was our last week of How the World Works, our investigation into the world of minerals.  Our summative assessment was a chance for students to showcase their growing awareness of the issues surrounding minerals and mining, including the use, scarcity and value of minerals, as well as their production.  The students each adopted a particular perspective of a mining stakeholder, and took part in a round table discussion about the issue of child mining.  We were fortunate to have students from grade 4 be the moderators for each of the 6 tables.  The students of 3P were quite adept at voicing their opinions and solutions.  Most felt obviously that a child's place is in school, that mines were dangerous places, but on a deeper level, that the various stakeholders should share more responsibility by enriching the communities which are forced to use child labour, by investing in infrastructure such as clean water, housing and schools.  The students played six stakeholder roles-- child miners, parents, consumers, mine owners/operators, manufacturers and the government.

Yesterday we were fortunate to have Mr Jonas Astrup, from the child labour division of the United Nations come speak the students as a guest speaker.  The students were very attentive and had many opinions and connections to make.

In language this week, the students wrote a second diary inscription about Dorsen, the boy working in a cobalt mine in the DRC, Africa.  In addition, most students completed their historical fiction story, so we are able to begin formating our class book for publishing very soon.  This week the students completed a writing assessment, and took some time working on their typing skills.

In math this week, the students continued our investigation with money. Understanding how to add and subtract decimals is key to learning how to purchase and make change. Next week we will have an assessment on their knowledge of money, as well as measuring area, circumference and perimeter.  The students have taken home an exercise sheet on calculating money equations, in order to make corrections and better prepare for the assessment next week.

I hope you had a wonderful week; and an even better weekend coming!

Mr Shawn and Ms. Olga

Money, Cobalt and Paragraphs

Those three topics obviously have little in common, except that they were the focus of our learning this past week. In math, our minds have shifted to learning about currency, denominations and value of money, how it links decimals, and being able purchase and make change. Making change requires quick thinking and having basic addition and subtraction skills. More work needs to be done, but they are having fun! This week we will be doing some math assessments to evaluate their learning in fractions, measurement, and their ongoing number skills.

In language this week, our learning focus was about paragraph structure in texts, such as when to know whether a new paragraph should be started, and how to end a paragraph. The routine activities of spelling, and group reading continues. In the reading groups however, the focus is beginning to shift to more silent reading, and sharing their ideas, summarizing and discussing story and nonfiction texts with their partners. As they prepare for grade four, being able to read independently (silently) for longer stretches is important. This skill is also meant to be built when reading at home. I reiterated this week that 20 minutes of uninterrupted reading, from a text which is appropriate for them, is non-negotiable. That is, as a school, this is the basic lower limit of homework responsibilities. Some students are neglecting to record their reading tasks in their reading record book, as well as show parents their work. Reading for children this age is critical in my view, and is the best academic task they can do outside the classroom. We have a motto in our classroom, we learn to read, and read to learn. I'd be pleased to discuss this with parents at any time.

 In our Unit of Inquiry into how minerals are used for just about everything we make and use, we gave thought to responsible mining.  Specifically, we investigated the plight of child miners, such as in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where most of the world's cobalt is mined. The children were quite moved about one little boy, Dorsen, who spent about 5 years of his early childhood mining, so that consumers can purchase smartphones. About one teaspoon of cobalt is used for every smartphone, three for a laptop, and about 10 Kgs for a electric car battery. The students are in the early stages of learning about supply and demand, but are face with the moral dilemma of exploitation for children in order to produce the technology we want. The children used Dorsen plight as the basis of a writing activity, by writing from his perspective in a diary. This week coming, we will be looking to the end of this unit of inquiry by having a Special United Nations Meeting of Mining Stakeholders in the mining industry to explore solutions. The students will be practicing their power of persuasive arguing to offer solutions from different perspectives--the mine owners, the child miners, the families of the child miners, the consumers and the technology companies. Each of these stakeholders will have different perspectives on the solutions, so we look forward to seeing your children in action. Ask them about it next Friday!

Have a wonderful weekend ahead!

Mr Shawn and Ms Olga

Student Led Conference Pictures

Student Led Conferences

It was great to see all students with their parent(s) today for Student Led Conferences.  Giving the students a chance to showcase what they are doing in class is a learning experience in itself.  It allows students not only to internalize what they are learning, but also to become more intuitive about their learning.  It is comparable to stopping to know what you know.  In other words, by taking the time to consider and show others what they are learning, they become more aware of themselves as learners.  It was great to see them applying their research skills at the mineral station, the 3D shape station, and reflect about their historical fiction story.   They have all come a long way this year, each in their own way.   We only have 8 weeks left of school, we have many areas to cover, and some to revisit as we prepare for grade 4.  It promises to be  a very intense but rewarding 8 weeks!

I try to get a picture of everyone at the student led conferences. This week I did not get a chance to snap a picture of Tony with his mother. I am sorry about that Tony!   So I want to show this picture, which is a very representative picture of Tony in class this year.

Experiments and Measurement

In math this week, we spent much time discussing and learning about measurement; naturally about height/width/depth, but also that we measure a variety of facets of life--from temperature to speed, from earthquakes to sound. This week we spent time measuring many objects using both the metric and imperial system units. Students continue to work through their mental math. Our mental math program is a wonderful way for students to learn and improve many strands of basic math such as number operations, money, fractions, decimals, shape, tessellation and symmetry, telling time, and other concepts.  It lends itself to working independently, but getting one-on-one support as needed.

In our language activities this week, we continued our work with fictional writing, about about fairy tales and fantasy, and how this writing style differs from others. Understanding the writing process, and editing for writing conventions is our goal in grade three, to prepare for grade four. The students are continuing their weekly word sorts and explicit learning about spelling patterns. Knowing that when we add suffixes such as" ing" to a word doubles the consonants for certain letters like g, n, p and and not others such as w is the kind of spellers we are trying to shape. We are still reading Danny the Champion of the World. We have great discussions about plot, character development and how writers use various literary tools to hook the readers. Our students love this story!

 In our How the World Works unit of inquiry this week, we had our second Experiment/Investigation Lab.  We predicted what would happen when we take sand, which is a composite of many, many different minerals and organic material, and mix it with starch, which is a carbohydrate, and H2O.  We learned about many ways to describe prediction and outcomes using the scientific method of research.  We look forward to the lab coming this week!  The students are also researching and writing about mineral properties and the function of a variety of minerals, and are collating an entire collection of mineral index cards.  There are many conceptual math and language connections which are transdisciplinary and incorporate well during this unit of inquiry.

Have a great week ahead!

Mr. Shawn and Ms. Olga

Pictures from April 1-5